


A Darkened Heart

by elonelisiate526



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26152936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elonelisiate526/pseuds/elonelisiate526
Summary: As war looms on the horizon of the land of Fodlan, a young woman named Byleth is forced to come to terms with her destiny. As she seeks to defeat the Shadows that threaten to rend her world in two, she must balance her life as a teacher to a group of students known as the Phantom Eagles with her duties as the latest Wild Card.Inspired by this fantastic piece of artwork by the talented Loooooneutral over on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/Loooooneutral/status/1296133163450654721
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. Prologue: A Heart Within the Void

A young blue-haired woman of average height stood in a dark void, devoid of anything besides a throne of intricately carved stone. This was not her first time here, having had recurring dreams of a young green-haired girl sleeping upon this throne since childhood. Yet something was different this time. She looked up to see that a hook-nosed man in a formal suit with large piercing eyes sat upon the throne with his fingers crossed. _This is different. I wonder what happened to that little girl?_ The man grinned, a wide smile that stretched across the entire width of his face. He then began to speak with a reedy voice that was decidedly less imposing than his presence. “Welcome to the Velvet Room, a place nestled between dream and reality. My name is Igor, and I am the master of this place." ___Velvet Room? What a strange name for such a bare place.___ “Now, before we begin…” Igor produced an ornate leather-bound guestbook and a golden quill, before holding them out to the woman. “Your name, please.”

The woman took the guestbook from his hands and flipped it open, before signing her name in an untidy scrawl. _Byleth Eisner _.__ As soon as the tip of the quill left the page, both it and the guestbook disappeared, materializing in Igor’s hands before he set them both down on the arm of his throne.

“Thank you. Now that that has been settled, please allow me to introduce my attendant, Sothis.”

A small figure emerged from behind the throne. The young woman looked up at the figure standing beside the throne, and her eyes widened in recognition: it was the green-haired girl, but her attire had changed. In the place of the intricate dress that the woman was used to seeing the girl wear was a far simpler blue one, with the fabric cascading down to her ankles in a diagonal pleated pattern. The beads and various other ornaments that had once adorned the child’s hair were gone, and her hair had been trimmed from its original length. Whereas it had reached down to her ankles before, it now stopped short of her shoulders, framing her face. A golden hairclip shaped like a star sat on the right side of her head, the letter V embossed on its face. “Well, what could have brought you here?”, Sothis asked with a confused frown on her face. “I suppose this isn’t the first time we’ve met, though.”

The hook-nosed man spoke once again. “My, this is quite intriguing. Never before has a guest of mine been as well-acquainted with the residents of this Room. And yet that is not the most peculiar thing of note.” _What could be stranger than this? Though I suppose this is a dream, after all._

“This Velvet Room is meant to reflect the inner state of its guest’s heart. And yet here we are surrounded by darkness, an inky void that devours all light. What could this mean for you, I wonder?”

The young woman spoke for the first time since she had entered the Room. “I was born without any heartbeat, if that means anything.”

The old man’s grin seemed to widen even further, impossibly so. “Interesting, yes, very interesting. But when I say heart, I do not mean the literal flesh that dwells within. It is the filter through which you observe the world around you, that colors how you interpret your surroundings. It seems that trying to reach a conclusion as to what this darkness must imply with regards to your heart will take a considerable amount of work on your part.”

“Is that why you brought me here?”

“That is not the only reason, no. You see, the world in which you live will soon be enveloped by war. It will be a war unlike any in the history of your world, in which many will fight to the death for their own ideals. However, this will result in certain doom for not only these parties, but your world as a whole.”

_Impossible. The end of the world? What am I supposed to do about any of this?_

“Your destiny is set in stone: you are to put an end to this conflict, or perish at the hands of the shadows that seek to rend your world in two.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I’m only a mercenary. I don’t have the means to perform such a duty.”

Igor chuckled. “Not to worry, dear guest. In time, you will acquire the necessary skills that will allow you to carry out your destiny. Sothis will also be available to assist you in accomplishing this. However, I am afraid that this is all I can tell you for the time being. The time for you to awaken is fast approaching.”

Igor began to fade, as did Sothis.

As a bright white light began to pierce through the darkness, Igor spoke, his voice fading. “Until we meet again, young guest.” Sothis stepped in front of Igor and bowed. “See you soon,” she said as she waved farewell. She felt herself floating up through the blinding light, faster and faster, until the movement stopped. Her eyes shot open, and she felt her body begin to fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first full-length fanfic, as well as the first that I've published on this site. With that said, any constructive criticism is more than welcome, and I hope that you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it!
> 
> EDIT: Changed Sothis' name back from Sophia to avoid confusion with the adorable AI companion of the same name from Persona 5 Strikers.


	2. An Intriguing Trio

The next thing Byleth knew, she was lying face-down on the rickety hard-wood floor of an old inn. Groaning, she scrambled to her feet as she regained her bearings. Looking behind her, she noticed that she had dragged her bedsheets off with her when she had fallen off. As she began to make the bed up, her thoughts drifted back to the strange dream that she had just had. _Or was it a dream?_ _It seemed too real._

Resolving to forget the dream and move on with her day, Byleth finished making her bed, tucking the tattered sheets underneath the pillows.

As she was finishing getting dressed, three sharp knocks rang out on the door to her room, and a gruff voice called out to her.

“Hey, kid. It’s time to get a move on. You decent?”

“Yeah, Dad.”

The door opened and her father stepped through, handing her a mug of her favorite coffee as he did so. “We’ve got to get a move on as soon as we can. Our latest contact isn’t exactly what I’d call the patient type, and I’d like to try and avoid getting any more of those Imperial stiffs crawling up my ass.”

As the daughter of the leader of a mercenary band, rising in the wee hours of the morning was nothing out of the ordinary for Byleth. Nevertheless, the lingering memory of the strange dream she had during the night left her feeling a bit disconcerted, and it showed on her face.

The fatherly smile on Jeralt’s face gave way to one of concern, and he stepped back to assess his daughter’s condition. “You aren’t feeling ill, are you? Did you eat too much of that damned curry again? I know it’s your favorite, but still, I’d think that four servings would be enough.” Byleth rolled her eyes, a rare display of emotion for her, eliciting a chuckle from her father.

“No, Dad. I’m fine. I just had another weird dream again. Nothing to worry about, I promise.” She looked up at him with a determined expression, and he ruffled her hair gently.

“If you say so. Well, if you’re ready, let’s…”

At that moment the door to Byleth’s room burst open, and one of Jeralt’s men ran in, a worried grimace on his face. “Jeralt, sir!” he shouted.

“What did I say about knocking?”

“Sorry, sir! It’s just, there’s an odd group of kids waiting outside, wanting to see you. They said there are bandits on the way!” he gasped. Turning to face Byleth, Jeralt motioned towards the front door of the inn and began to walk away. “I’m going to go scope out the situation. Come out as soon as you’re ready, ok?” The young woman nodded as her father stepped through the inn’s front door.

After drinking down the rest of her coffee, Byleth grabbed her well-worn silver sword from her dresser, placing it in a loop on her belt. After spending a few minutes scrambling around looking for her shield, which she found under the bed, she began to make her way to the front door.

As Byleth stepped out of the old inn into the misty morning air, she saw her father standing before three young men, speaking with them in hushed tones. The three men wore identical black uniforms with golden accents, but they each wore a differently colored cape. _Blue, gold, and crimson_. _The colors of the three nations,_ Byleth noted. _Iwatodai, Inaba, and Shibuya._ While this gave her a general idea of their respective nationalities, she had no clue as to their actual identities, but she could tell that they were of noble bearing.

“Blue” was the shortest of the three and had a somewhat gloomy disposition. The hue of his cape closely matched that of his azure hair, the bangs of which covered one eye and left the other exposed. Byleth noticed that he stood in a slightly stooped position, his hands tucked in the pockets of his trousers and his head down low.

“Yellow” was the tallest in the group, standing at least a head above both his comrades. He stood tall and proud with a gentle smile on his face and seemed to have a calm and collected attitude about him. His silver hair was styled into a neatly trimmed bowl cut, and Byleth noted that he was quite the looker despite his simple style.

“Red” stood between the others in height, and unlike the other two boys wore a pair of plain black spectacles on his face, framing his dark gray eyes. His black hair was unkempt, almost if he had neglected to comb it. He stood with his hands at his sides, taking in his surroundings. Unlike Blue and Yellow, Byleth realized that it was almost impossible for her to get a definite read on him. While he seemed quiet and unassuming on the surface, she couldn’t help but feel that his eyes held something like a glint of rebellion within them.

At the moment, Blue was speaking to Jeralt, his hands never leaving his pockets as he spoke. “We were east of here, performing training exercises when a group of bandits began to attack us. Unfortunately, someone here decided to abandon his duty…”

He glared at the boy next to him, dressed in yellow, who shrugged and smiled serenely. “Sorry ‘bout that. I just thought that if I could get away from them, you guys could as well. Besides, we made it here in the end.” Yellow clapped Blue hard on the back, making his scowl deepen further. “Personal space,” Blue grumbled, slapping the other boy’s hand and shuffling to the side. The last boy, clad in red, hadn’t spoken, only watching his comrades with bemusement as they began to bicker back and forth.

Once their argument had ended, Jeralt cleared his throat loudly, his mounting exasperation all too noticeable to Byleth. “Okay, settle down. So, I’m going to assume that you three need my company’s help, is that right? I’m willing to lend a hand, but it’ll cost you quite a bit, just so you know.”

Red just nodded before removing a heavy leather pouch from his belt. “Will 50000 yen suffice? If that’s not enough, these two can pitch in as well.” At this Blue shifted his glare to Red, while Yellow continued to smile good-naturedly. 

Jeralt whistled. “Sheesh, what kind of kids are you? I could have sworn that I recognized those uniforms from somewhere…” He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before catching himself and shaking his head with a sigh. “Ah, whatever. It’s a deal. But I’m not going to let you three brats sit on your asses, watching on the sidelines.”

He turned around and nodded at Byleth. “Good, you’re here. I’m going to need you to babysit these three. Something tells me that these aren’t just ordinary kids, so protect them with your life.”

“Yes, sir.”

“This here is my daughter, Byleth. Stick close to her and do as she says, and you’ll all be able to walk away from here safe and sound. Any funny business with her and you’ll be answering to me, is that clear?”

Blue shrugged noncommittally, voicing his agreement with a muttered “Whatever.”

Yellow merely nodded and bowed politely. “Of course.”

Red, however, looked Byleth square in the eyes, his brow furrowed. After several moments of deliberation, his expression lightened, and he seemed to decide that she was trustworthy. He nodded at her. “I’m in.”

There was a strange intensity to the young man in red’s response that failed to escape the notice of Byleth and her father, who exchanged a significant glance. Jeralt turned to his daughter and whispered in her ear, “And keep an eye on that one for me, alright? Can’t get a read on him for the life of me. Seems a bit reckless, so make sure he doesn’t fly too far off the handle.”

“Will do.” She turned to the three young men and nodded. “You’re with me. Let’s head out.”


	3. A Glimpse of The Bandit King

Byleth stood at the front gates of the town, where a well-worn wooden sign reading “Welcome to Yongen-Jaya” swung gently in the morning breeze, and let out a deep sigh. While she was used to commanding small battalions of her father’s men during missions, something about being left in charge of these three boys made her feel nervous. Whether it was the fact that they appeared to be of noble blood or the fact that they were just so foreign to her, she didn’t know.

What she did know, however, was that they had apparently been ambushed by a group of bandits who were now on their way to Yongen-Jaya, and Jeralt had appointed her and the three “noble brats” to be at the front of the line in order to draw the bandits out of the woods. After Jeralt had made his way back into the village to help the rest of the company bolster up its defenses, Byleth led the three young men to the front gates.

The three boys were now all geared up for battle, and Byleth noted the subtle changes in their behavior once they had joined her at the front lines. Blue had been sullen and withdrawn before, but he now had his lance at the ready and a battle-ready expression on his face. Yellow’s easy-going smile was still intact, slightly hardened by his heightened vigilance as he scanned the trees ahead of them, both of his hands wrapped around the hilt of a silver katana. Red held a medium-length dagger at his side, spinning it around between his fingers, while nonchalantly pushing his glasses up with his other hand. He smirked slightly, his eyes glinting behind his glasses with the spark of rebellion.

After a moment of tense silence, Yellow spoke up. “I don’t see anyone approaching from that clump of trees just up ahead. Could be they’re trying to work their way around the forest, but we’d have no way of knowing for sure.”

Blue scoffed. “Maybe we’ll split up then? Honestly, if you’re in charge we’ll be strategizing for the next four hours.”

“I’m not in charge. The pretty lady is.”

“It’s all about the girls with you, isn’t it?”

“It’s not just girls, you know...”

Byleth could only look on in bewilderment as the two boys began to argue while standing on what would shortly become an active battleground. She wanted to intervene, to call them out on their foolishness, but someone else beat her to the punch.

“Guys, give it a rest. You’re clearly stressing her out.”

Red walked up alongside her and acknowledged her with a quick nod.

_Sorry_ , he mouthed silently, before striding up to his two comrades.

“What, are you going after her too? You’re no better than him!”

“I only said she was pretty.”

“Both of you, stop. We need to stay focused on our objective. That means no arguing and no philandering, OK?”

“But– “

“I wasn’t- “

Byleth, having recovered from her confusion, cleared her throat and walked over to where the three were standing. _Jeez, I need to get better at exerting my authority_.

“He’s right. Now, as I understand it, there are bandits on the way, correct?”

“Duh,” responded Blue.

Ignoring that remark, Byleth nodded to Yellow.

“I believe you said that you think that they may try to approach from around the sides of the forest, trapping us within. While I appreciate your critical thinking, these are bandits we’re dealing with. From my experience, standard bandit brigades rarely consist of more than 6 or 7 men in number. The benefit of sneaking around the sides would be almost negligible compared to just approaching through the woods.”

Yellow furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, taking in and considering every word that she said.

“Huh, now that you say it… But I don’t see any bandits in the trees up there. Where else could they be?”

“They’re probably deeper into the woods than you think. Your eyes can only see so far, so don’t rely on them too much. You can’t conduct all of your strategizing from a distance; sometimes you need to get a bit closer to get the full picture.”

Yellow’s eyes brightened as he winked at her. “You’re quite the intelligent leader, aren’t you?”

Blue glared daggers at him. “Just quit while you’re ahead, dummy.”

Red glanced back at Byleth, rolling his eyes. _Sorry again,_ he mouthed, an amused smile spilling across his face.

* * *

As they approached the tree line, Byleth saw the faint glow of a lantern further in.

“Bandits aren’t really as clever as they like to think they are,” she whispered. “As long as we stay quiet and out of the line of sight, we should be fine.”

Crouching by a cluster of low brush at the outer edge of the woods, she could hear the mutterings of the bandits standing in a clearing further ahead.

“Where are those brats?”, a gruff voice demanded.

“I think they went off to that little shithole of a town down south.”

“Hmm… Could be trouble, with all the mercs around these parts. Maybe we oughtta torch it from afar, draw them out of there and finish ‘em off. We still have those flame arrows, right?”

“What about the mercs? I thought we didn’t want no trouble from them!”

“You know how those people are. They’ll wanna evacuate the village first, what with their pansy-ass code of honor and all. Probably only spare three or four men to engage us in pursuit. We’ll kick ‘em to the curb after we finish off the kids.”

“What if it’s the Bladebreaker’s men?”

Byleth heard the leader shudder, and though his voice dropped to a whisper, she could hear a twinge of fear in his tone, masked by false bravado and authority.

“It won’t be, OK?! Just trust me, you filthy peasants. I’m the Bandit King, after all. You filthy rats should be grateful to even be in my presence. Now kneel before your rightful ruler!”

“Bandit King? Who could be so vain as to call themselves that?” Byleth whispered, mainly to herself.

She caught a glimpse of the bandits through the dense brush, lying prostrate on the earth before their leader, who stood over them with a gaudy gilded crown on his head and a silver axe in his hand. The man wore a plush velvet robe over a silver breastplate, although the lower half of his body was bare save a garishly patterned set of undergarments. Despite his utter lack of fashion sense, he still seemed to be quite a formidable man, towering above his subjects. If Byleth had to guess, the only person that would be taller than him was Yellow, and even then, only by a few centimeters.

_“_ Oh, ok. Bandit King. Yeah, I can totally see it now _,_ ” snarked Blue, making sure to keep his voice down.

“If only I could un-see it _”,_ remarked Yellow.

Byleth turned to Red, who had stayed silent, and noted a look of utter disgust on his face, presumably directed towards the Bandit King.

As Byleth and the three young nobles stood there, low to the ground and hidden out of sight, the so-called Bandit Kings’ men continued groveling at his feet, offering their praises to their almighty ruler.

“All hail our leader.”

“All hail the Bandit King.”

“All hail His Majesty, King Kamoshida.”


	4. An Introduction to Strategy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trio introduce themselves, and Byleth flexes her tactical muscle.

Byleth didn’t know what to make of the three young men that had accompanied her in the battle. Their matching uniforms aside, they were each all quite different from one another. Although they tried to put forth an outward image of camaraderie and friendship, she could sense an underlying tension in their interactions. Blue was the most withdrawn of the three. Yellow was the most talkative, his kind smile unwavering as he spoke, but his eyes were vigilant as a hawk’s as he scoped out their surroundings. Red was…

To say that the young man in Red was quiet was an understatement. Byleth had nearly forgotten that he was there, and she jumped as he caught up alongside her.

“Sorry,” he said quietly, pushing his glasses up with one hand.

 _He’s quite stealthy, I’ll give him that. This gives me an idea_.

Waving off his apology, Byleth began to issue instructions to the three young men.

“Yellow and Blue, the two of you will take the left and right flanks of the bandits. Use the trees as cover and tread lightly. Red, you’re with me.”

“We have names, you know,” muttered Blue.

_Oh. I didn’t even think about that. Probably make this a bit easier for them._

“My name is Yu,” said the boy in yellow.

“Minato,” Blue tersely replied.

“Ren. Nice to meet you,” Red stated with a friendly smirk.

“Ok, then. You already know my name, so that clears things up for introductions. Now, back to the matter of the bandits.”

Byleth laid out their plans to ambush the Bandit King and his men. The clearing that the self-proclaimed monarch and his men occupied was overshadowed by a rickety observation tower, a line of lanterns strung across its roof. Yu and Minato would take point on the east and west sides of the clearing, respectively. Meanwhile, Byleth and Ren would approach from the front, with Byleth distracting the bandits long enough for Ren to take advantage of his stealthiness to sprint through and reach the tower. In theory, this would ensure that the bandits would be pinned down from all sides.

 _Now to put this strategy into action_.

Byleth looked to the three young men, noting that they were each assuming their unique battle stances. Ren stood just behind her, spinning his daggers in his hands, while Yu and Minato clutched their weapons on her left and right.

Their posture showed their battle-readiness to a peculiar extent, more than she expected from a group of youth their age, but their eyes reflected the fear and uncertainty that lay underneath. _They’re a bit naïve, but they each have great potential. No doubt they’ll be powerful figures in the world some day._

Nodding to each of them in turn, Byleth unsheathed her sword and pulled out her shield.

“On my mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry that I've gone so long without any updates to this story. Between college, the pandemic, and a general lack of motivation, I've had a lot on my plate recently. At one point I even considered abandoning this fic altogether, being dissatisfied with what I had written so far. After a reassessment of the prior chapters and a reevaluation of my own writing ability, I have decided to return to this fic and hopefully write some others as well! In terms of an upload schedule, I plan to take a cue from another fic (chrising's fantastic P4/P5 crossover "Steal the Truth, Reach Out For Your Heart", also here on ao3) and write a greater quantity of shorter chapters sprinkled throughout each week. While this means that the fic will be much longer (chrising's is currently over 100 chapters and counting), I'm hoping that it will motivate me to be more prolific as a writer. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy what's to come.


	5. Peripheral Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight begins (and ends?)

If there was one thing Byleth knew, it was how to effectively wield her blade in battle. To her, it was nothing more than a dance, each step and maneuver accompanied by a blinding flash of steel. Her father had taught her well, for sure, but she knew that a true mercenary was worth more than their skill with the blade. A keen awareness of one’s surroundings and the sound use of tactical maneuvers were also important. Thus, Byleth always made sure to frequently use her peripheral vision to survey the battlefield.

While she was busy parrying the blows that two of the Bandit King’s cronies were sending her way, she glanced out of the corner of her eye, noting that the three young men accompanying her were holding their own against the others. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed King stood to the side with his arms crossed, seemingly content to let his men do all the work.

Although she was barely even breaking a sweat as she fought, the young mercenary was aware that the relative inexperience of her compatriots would quickly become a liability if she did not hold the thugs’ attention long enough for Ren to sprint to the base of the watchtower. She knew that her father and his men were not far behind, likely having just finished their work shoring up the village’s defenses, but it would fall to her and the three boys to land the first strike.

* * *

Ren sprinted towards the tower, being careful to dodge the blows leveled at him by the bandits as he ran. He was nearly out of breath, but he knew that the plan relied on him making it to the middle of the clearing in time for the other three to pin the bandits in.

_If only I had Ryuji’s sheer speed,_ he muttered.

Finally reaching the tower, panting from exertion, he turned to signal to Byleth.

And was met by a fist to the face.

Scrambling up from the ground and reaching for his daggers, which had been knocked out of his hand when he fell, he felt a sharp pain in his head as his assailant kicked him in the forehead.

“Gah!”, he exclaimed, falling to the ground once again.

“So, you think you can get away with meddling in my affairs again, after our little incident at the Academy?”, sneered the Bandit King. “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, you little brat.”

Ren looked up at Kamoshida, a look of utter disgust on the young man’s face. “You think with what you did, I could leave you alone? After what you did to my friends?!”

Kamoshida chuckled, grabbing Ren by the hair and pulling him up to eye level. “What, those twerps? They just couldn’t take what they had coming to them! And as for you…” Kamoshida pulled an ax out of his cape, holding it up to Ren’s head, and swung it back and forth, its blade gleaming in the light of the tower’s lanterns. “I’ll just deal with you now.”

The Bandit King threw Ren to the ground, before priming his ax for the kill. As he hefted the blade over his shoulder, Ren glanced over to Byleth, who was still occupied in battle.

_I guess this is it. So much for my plans._

Looking up into Kamoshida’s eyes, Ren gave one last look of rebellion at the Bandit King before accepting his fate. Closing his eyes as the ax neared closer to his face, Ren braced himself for the sting of death.

But it never came.

Byleth Eisner jumped in front of him, throwing herself before the ax blade, and the young noble couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt pass over him as it dug into her flesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally back! Again... Sorry for the wait! I know it's only been an eternity. (FYI, I've been wrapped up in a little game called "Genshin Impact" for the last month or so. Excuses, excuses, I know!) The direction that I'd like to take this story in from here on out is a bit different than what I had planned at the start, taking more cues from the story structure and lore of FE3H, but with the character arcs and themes of P5, so I hope that you still continue to enjoy. There will be Personas for sure, but there will also be Crests as well! Expect regular updates from here on out.


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